The Southlake City Council Hall, once packed from floor to gallery with residents for whom gas drilling in town was either a looming menace or a windfall, had only a smattering of attendees a little after 11 last night. Many had already wearied of the debate, which had raged since…
Years ago, when writing about efforts to revitalize a neighborhood near Fair Park, I came across the building you see above: the former Pete’s Sandwich Shop at 4702 Baldwin, sandwiched between Starplex and Julia Frazer Elementary. At the time, Habitat for Humanity was building new homes nearby, on Jamaica, but…
Earlier today, an item appeared on The Poynter Institute’s website in which Mark Medici, vice president of audience for The Dallas Morning News, is quoted as saying that within the next three years, “we won’t have a seven-day paper.” Medici allegedly delivered that shocking bit of news during a conference…
This morning the Dallas Contemporary was closed to the public, but a bunch of reporters were inside taking first looks at the most exorbitantly priced, publicity-getting items, otherwise known as the Fantasy Gifts from Neiman Marcus’s 2011 Christmas Book. Eight of the nine items on display will give some portions of their…
Here’s the boring truth behind Stephen Colbert’s WFAA rant last night: The reason our ABC affiliate didn’t air Colbert’s Super PAC spot about the NBA lockout was “garden-variety human error,” according to the station’s veep, Dave Muscari. Nothing more, nothing less. “The spot,” he tells Unfair Park, “wasn’t rejected.” Matter…
Several Friends of Unfair Park have pointed out, in the comments below and via email, that Stephen Colbert last night tackled the NBA lockout … and, while he was at it, WFAA-Channel 8, for refusing to run his latest Super PAC ad in support of NBA owners working hard to…
Last night, in the comments below, a Friend of Unfair Park mentioned that Tom Leppert made Keith Olbermann’s “Worst Persons in the World” round-up for his End Occupy website. Sure enough — finally, some national pub for the former Dallas mayor and candidate for U.S. Senate, for whom a crazy-lefty…
Over the weekend I espied the deconstruction site you see here, across from Bachman Lake at Northwest Highway and Marsh. The new Sam’s right there took me by surprise — so too did the disappearance of the landmark Whirly Ball, which I knew was coming … but, still. It’s never…
Today was supposed to mark the grand opening of the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge — today, October 14, 2011. Alas, wind, rain, ice and other long-ago weather issues pushed back the date till March 2, when, as we noted but two days ago, those with $200 in hand will be…
Just heard a little-girl yelp coming from Schutze’s office; he must have received the same email I just did concerning the opening-weekend ceremonies scheduled March 2-4 for The Santiago Calatrava Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge to Ray’s. We’ve known this was coming for a while now, and there’s another press conference…
Saw this heads-up for the first time last night. As it turns out, according to DirecTV’s website, the satellite provider and Belo Corp. are engaged in a tussle over broadcast fees. Belo, which signed its agreement with the carrier in February 2001, says DirecTV isn’t paying enough for the rights…
On Friday we took a ride down Cedar Crest Boulevard over the Trinity, which the city’s spending millions to makeover as a half-vehicular, half-hike-n-bike bridge — but not before Jason Roberts and the Better Block-ers set up a temporary show-and-tell one week from Saturday, this one billed as the first-ever…
Speaking of walking along bridges over the Trinity River …Yesterday, members of The Trinity Trust, the Trinity Commons Foundation’s board and a few city officials were invited to take a walk along the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, which is scheduled to have its grand opening during a three-day-long wingding in…
In December of last year, the city of Dallas put out the call: Design firm needed to draw up pedestrian and bicycle enhancements for the Cedar Crest Bridge over the Trinity River. In May, the Trinity River Corridor Project Committee was told that 13 firms had stepped forward with proposals…
Brett Shipp was among those who attended Jerry Haynes’s funeral Saturday afternoon. The WFAA newsman was accompanied by his father, Bert, who was a familiar face on local television long before his son stepped out of his shadow. Bert and Jerry went way back — they were among the first…
Back in May, at the request of a City Hall worker who’s been staring at the carnage next door for far too long, we peaked into 500 South Ervay and discovered the old Butler Brothers furniture warehouse wasn’t just a 500,000-square foot mess, but also one tied up in litigation…
A Friend of Unfair Park asked this morning: “What’s going on over at Cityplace? Looks like they’re sinking a giant drill bit.” Funny he should ask: Moments ago we got word that today’s doings are related to the installation of three pieces of public art that begin at 7:30 this…
George Gimarc called the other day, said he’d just been rustling through stacks of paperwork left behind by Brent Stein — better known as Stoney Burns, father of Dallas’s underground press. Stein died in April, and in recent days those trusted to dispose of his estate have been offloading what…
Wow. I think Dallas Assistant City Manager Jill Jordan broke a major national story at today’s meeting of the Dallas City Council Trinity River Corridor Project committee. She told the committee that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — the quasi-military agency in charge of the nation’s flood control levees…
Tony Romo isn’t solely to blame for the Cowboys’ loss to the Lions, described alternately as “epic,” “historic” and just plain “embarrassing” (that’s from the team’s own website). The defense, stout in the first three quarters, surrendered 17 points to Detroit in the final period, including that three-on-one jump ball…
What you see above is the new plan to improve the Trinity River levees, which is markedly different than the one outlined on Page 46 of the April 2010 Dallas Floodway System briefing that showed the so-called cut-off wall sunk into the levees. Of course, back then it was guesstimated…
Feels like only two weeks ago we celebrated PARK(ing) Day Dallas, then spent an awful lot of time arguing about it … for some reason. Anyway. Several Friends of Unfair Park have pointed out the YouPlusDallas video made that day, which features Friend of Unfair Park and co-organizer Noah Jeppson…
